Anonymous Snapshots

Yesterday I visited the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts to see a photo show, Accidental Mysteries. It's an exhibit of pictures from the vernacular photo collection of John and Teenuh Foster. A vernacular photo is a photo taken for your own use such as family vacation pictures. It was a lot of fun to see everyday snapshots, interesting double-exposures and odd poses all in one place. Some of these snapshots were obviously taken by children based on the angle of the image and the subject matter. There was one mis-labeled picture. Watch for it if you get a chance to visit the museum. An image captioned four girls actually shows three girls and a boy(with a ruffled collared shirt). The show runs until January 27, 2008.